Weimar Republic's Constitution

Weimar Republic's new constitution was adopted
in August 1919. Many historians put the blame for Weimar's
future political problems on this constitution in that, ironically, it was too
fair as it included everybody regardless of their political beliefs. However, Ebert
was committed to democracy and the new constitution had his full support.

The constitution introduced a bi-cameral assembly: this
was a parliament that was made up of two layers; one represented the whole
nation (the Reichstag) and made whole-nation decisions while the other
represented regions (the Reichsrat).

The Reichstag was made up of politicians who
were elected through universal suffrage. All people over 20 years of age could
vote. Politicians of the Reichstag sat for four years and then they had to stand
for re-election. The Reichstag used a system of proportionalrepresentation
for elections. Issues such as finance, tax, foreign policy etc. were discussed.

The Reichsrat represented regional
governments within Germany such as Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony. Their task was
limited to examining regional
issues.

The president was the head of state.
He was elected for a term of seven years.

The president could appoint his chancellor
with the recommendation that the Chancellor should have the support of a
majority in the
Reichstag.

He was also in theory the head of the armed
forces.

The president
could also dissolve the Reichstag and call a general election if he felt the
political situation warranted it.

He could also veto (refuse to support)
Reichstag legislation (laws passed by the Reichstag). By doing this, the
president could kill off any Reichstag laws he disapproved of.

The president could also declare a state of
emergency and rule by emergency decree.

The constitution was genuinely democratic,
after the sham democracy of Kaiser William II.

Elections were built around
universal suffrage and proportional representation. However, the theoretical
strength of the constitution was also its Achilles heel. Everybody was allowed
to vote including extremists from both sides of the political spectrum - left
and right. The system of proportional representation also meant that if any
minor party got the necessary votes, they would have party members in the
Reichstag. The major parties would continue to dominate the Reichstag, but the
minor parties could disrupt proceedings and make the party in power - the Social
Democrats - look incapable of maintaining order in its very seat of power. This
is exactly what the new Nazi
Party did in its early years. It got enough votes to get a few members into
the Reichstag (as a result of proportional representation) and those Nazis
elected then did what they could to 'prove' to the German people that Ebert
and
the Social Democrats were incompetent in dealing with such basics as maintaining
discipline within the Reichstag.

The constitution was to play a major part in
the years 1930 -1933 when the president, Hindenburg, appointed and sacked
chancellors seemingly at will.